From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

 

The French Republic and the Voice of Nigeria (VON) have agreed to collaborate in promoting French language through the VON Annual French Drama Competition for Secondary Schools in Nigeria.

The development is in a bid to promote French language and its culture in Nigeria. The competition provided an avenue for the students to showcase their talents in drama competition where prizes were given to the best three schools. Participating schools included Government Secondary School, Apo, Abuja, Anglican College, Kubwa, the Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State; Nakam Memorial College, Jos, Plateau State; Cor Mariae Boys College, Abuja and ECWA Secondary School, Nassarawa State.

Assistant Director, French Institute in Nigeria, Mr. Benoit Billy, while speaking in Abuja, said he was delighted to see French language being promoted in Nigeria.

Billy also said he looked forward to seeing Nigeria movie industry, Nollywood, produce movies in French language.

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He said: “I feel really happy that Voice of Nigeria has been promoting the programme for many years. And I think it is very important to collaborate to put the events together for teachers and students from different states in order to promote French language in Nigeria through drama because drama is very famous. And we pray in the future that new talents will be discovered in Nigeria and it is good to promote foreign language. It is always an advantage.”

In his remarks, the Director-General of VON, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, disclosed that the goal of organising the drama competition was to champion and promote the use of French language in Nigeria and expand the linguistic frontiers of students in the country.

Okechukwu said the initiative was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s proclamation that it is better to harness the fullest potential of Nigerian children.

 “It is our considered view that catching the children young is a win-win scenario for parents, our dear nation and the global Franco community. This noble concept, Annual French Drama Secondary School Competition, was birthed by the National Youth Service Corp members led by Isaac John,” he said.

According to Okechukwu, VON is a multimedia platform that broadcasts in eight languages namely: English, French, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Arabic, Swahili and Fulfulde.